Sighting or observing tube for vessels.



No. 754,464. 4 PATENTED MAR.115, 1904.

. S.LAKE. SIGHTING 0R OBSERVING TUBE FOR VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.12. 1903. I

H0 IODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- whim/@0000 No. 754,464. PATBNTED MAR. 15, 1904.

s. LAKE.

SIGHTING 0R OBSERVI NG TUBE FOR VESSBLS. APPLICATION FILED K0112, 1903.

K0 MODEL. 4T 2 SHEE' ISSHEBT 2.

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1 UNIT STA ES;

v Patented March 15, 1904..

PATENT OFFICE SIMON LAKE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUTQT SIGHTINGYOR OBSERVING'TUBE FOR VESSELS'Q,

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 754,464, dated March 15, 1904.

Application filed November 12, 1903. SerialNo- 180,835. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMON LAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in

the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSighting or Observing Tubes for Vessels, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings,

This invention relates to an improvement in sighting or observing tubes for vessels, particularly-of the class shown and described in the United States Patent N o. 725, 570, granted to me April 14, 1903; and it has for its primary object to increase the effectiveness of such devices.

The inventionconsists partly in a means of maintaining the operative face ofthe reflecting member in the upper or outer end of the tube constantly at such inclinatiomirrespective of the condition of fore-and-aft trim of the vessel, that both the inner end of the tube and the external object to be inspected by the observer within the vessel may be constantly in range of the same; partly in a gage device for indicating the total submergence of the vessel while the upper portion of the sightingtube is still in operative relation above the surface of the water; partly in a particular means of staying the tube while permitting its rotation in respect of the vessel carrying the same, and partly in certain other features of construction, which will be hereinafter described.

In the drawings annexed, Figure l is an external elevation of the upper'portion of a submarine boat provided with a sighting-tube embodying the present invention; and Fig. 2 isv sighting-tube, taken at a right angle to that of Fig. 2. a

As herein shown, the conning-tower 2 of the vessel has a sighting-hood 3 with suitable windows or dead-lights 1, having attached to its forward portion a casting 5, constituting the base portion of the sighting-tube, which is formed in two sections 6 and 7 united together by a coupling 8, preferably formed of amaterial of less strength than the parts of the tube which it unites, so that in case of collision during submergence the upper por- *tion 70f the tube will be'broken off without danger to the occupants of the vessel, a glass disk 9, constituting a transparent diaphragm, being mounted in a supporting-ring 10, secured in the lower section 6, serving to prevent the inflow of water to the' interior of the boat under such condition, while the base portion 5 is provided with the usual stuffingbox 11, surrounding such member of the tube for similarly preventing the penetration of water along the exterior of the tube. The tube is provided near the upper end with an external annular flange12, to which is fitted so as to loosely embrace the tube a collar 13, having a series of projecting lugs 14:, to which are connected by pins 15 the eyes of a series of guy ropes 'or rods 16, shown in Fig 1 as attached at the other ends to the top of the conning-tower for steadying the projecting portion of the tube 6 7, while permitting it to be rotated in performing itsnormal function. The upper portion of the sighting-tube is surmounted by a cap 17, having a series of lateral openings 18 and a single opening 19,

disposed above and upon the same side as one .flects downwardly through the tube 6 7 upon the receiving-prism 25, which transmits the same through the eyepiece 26 to the observer. Adjacent the other opening, 19, in the upper portion of the cap 17 is disposed a glass prism 26,which is also mounted in a frame 27, adapted to swing upon the fixed bearing-centers 28.

The swinging frames 22 and 27 are provided with crank-pins 29, connected together and to the corresponding pin 30 upon one of the swinging lever-arms 31 in the lower portion of the tube by means of a rod 32, which is also shown provided with a suitable coupling for a purpose similar to that of the coupling 8 and located slightly above the transparent partition 9, through which it passes by means of a suitable stuffing-box. The leverarms 31, in conjunction with the weight 33, attached to and connecting the lower ends of the same, together constitute a pendulum which maintains a vertical position in all conditions of trim of the vessel and through the connecting-rod 32 operates to tilt the prisms 21 and 26 sufl iciently to compensate for any defect in trim of the vessel in the direction faced by the prism 26 and the corresponding primary prism 21 of the series below it, which is similarly directed. In order that the compensation afforded by the pendulum shallnot be excessive, as would be the case were the inclination of the tilting prisms varied equally with that of the boat, the eccentricity of the crank-pins 29 upon the swinging frames 22 and 27 is made double that of the pin 30 upon the pendulum-lever 31, thereby receiving only one-half the degree of oscillation of the pin 30 upon the pivotal screws 34, sustaining the pendulum.

To afford facility in picking up an external object by the reflecting member 26 when the latter is directed toward the same general portion of the horizon, the weight 33 isshown pivotally connected with a jointed hand-lever 35 36, extended laterally through the cut-away portion 37 of the tube-section 6 into the sighting-hood, where it maybe readily manipulated by the lookout operating the sightingtu e.

As indicated in Fig. 2, the lower portion of the section 6 of the sighting-tube is cut away at 37 to permit the partial rotation of the tube without interference with the fixed eyepiece 26 and the operating-lever 36, and to effect this rotation the lower end of this tube-section is formed with an axial bearing-stud 38 and with a segmental series of bevel-gear teeth 39, meshing with a bevel-pinion 40, mounted upon a spindle 41, having fixed thereon a hand-wheel 42, by which said inteiI-Jmeshing gears may be actuated to turn the tu e.

In order to determine from the interior of.

the vessel when the boat is traveling in the most effective submerged condition while still maintaining a View of the horizon above the surface of the water, an aperture 43 is formed in the upper section 7 of the tube intermediate the cap 17 and the level of the highest point of the vessel proper, and adjacent said aperture within the tube is secured a small glass prism 44. It will readily be seen that this prism when above the surface of the water will have a bright appearance when viewed from the lower prism 25 by the observer within the boat; but as soon as its opening 43 becomes submerged the light reflected thereby is to a large extent cut off and the color of the Water only is visible, while the upper prisms 21 and 26 are still effective in performing their normal functions. As this prism 44 is disposed materially above the top of the highest portion of the hull of the vessel, it will be seen that it serves as a gage .in indicating to the occupants the total submergence of the vessel, thus constituting the sighting-tube a depth-indicator, as well asaffording a means of scanning the horizon from beneath the surface of the water. By the use of this gage device in connection with the sighting-tube any accidental rise of the vessel to expose a portion of its hull above the surface may be readily prevented, as the first appearance of a bright light reflected from the prism 44 operates as a warning to apprise the navigator of the approach of the vessel to the surface and enables him to counteract such effect by suitable manipulation of the means provided for such purpose.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that the several features of the present improvement may be considerablyvari'ed without departure from the spirit of the invention and that the claims annexed hereto are not to be understood as limited in scope to the particular constructive features herein shown and described. It will further be un derstood that while glass prisms are considered preferable as the reflecting members to be employed in the sighting-tube, as herein set forth, other forms of reflectors may be substituted without changing the character of the present improvement, of which such feature is not an essential part.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is 1. The combination with a vessel, of a sighting-tube having in its upper or outer end a reflecto'r movably mounted therein for receiving and reflecting inwardly an image-of an external object, and means connected with said reflector and automatically controlled inde pendently of the trim of the vessel for maintaining said reflector trained toward external objects at the level of the water.

2. The combination with a vessel, of a sighting-tube having revolubly mounted in its upper or outer end a reflector for receiving and reflecting inwardly an image of an external object, and means connected with said reflector and automatically controlled independently of the trim of the vessel for maintaining said reflector trained toward external objects at the level of the water.

3. The combination with a vessel, of a sighting-tube, an inclined reflector movably mounted in the upper end of said tube, a pendulum, and a connection between said pendulum and said reflector whereby the degree of inclination of the latter is varied with the movemen of the pendulum.

4. The combination with a vessel, of a sighting-tube, an inclined reflector pivotally mounted in the upper end of said'tube, a pendulum mounted in the lower end of'said tube, and a connection between said pendulum and said reflector whereby the degree of inclination of the latter is varied with the movement of the pendulum.

5. The combination with a submarine vessel, of a sighting-tube, an inclined reflector movably mounted in the upper end of said tube and adapted 'to receive and reflect inwardly through said tube an image of an ex: ternal object, a second reflector disposed beneath and normally in the range of said firstnamed reflector, and means for controlling the inclination of said first-named reflector governed by a device operating independently of the trim of the vessel whereby said secondnamed reflector and said external object may be maintained constantly in the range of saidfirst-named reflector.

6. The combination with a submarine vessel, of a sighting-tube, an inclined reflector mounted in the upper or outer end of said tube and adapted to receive an image of an external object and to reflect it inwardly through said tube, and a second reflector intermediate said first-named reflector and the inner or lower end of said tube, disposed slightly above the level of the highest portion of said vessel and at a distance below said first-named reflector to serve as a gage for in dicating the total submergence of said vessel while the first-named reflector remains above the surface of the water.

7. The combination with a submarine vessel, of a sighting-tube extending upwardly above the highest portion of the same, a reflector mounted in the upper end-of the said tube and adapted to receive and to reflect inwardly through the same an image of an external object, and a gage carried by said tube materially below said reflector but above the highest portion of said vessel and adapted to indicate when the latter is totally submerged. 8. The combination with a submarine vessel, of a sightingtube mounted revolubly upon the same, and provided in its upper end with a reflector adapted to receive and to reflect downwardly through said tube an image of an external object, a collar loosely-embracing said tube and locked from longitudinal movement thereon, guys connecting said collar with said boat for staying said tube against lateral displacement, and means for turning said tube in respect of said boat.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. SIMON LAKE.

Witnesses:

E. G. GALLAGHER, HENRY J. MILLER. 

